Come along and follow our journey of being what we think is Normal..... just a average family, following God's calling and a life blessed with Down Syndrome

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Well all I can say is we need your prayers right now. Please stand with us friends and family as we are fervently seeking a solution to G & G's school situation right now. This is a very trying time right now and I just know there is light at the end of all of this.

The school is saying they see behaviors from Giovanna that we have never seen nor has anyone that knows her has seen. Every day multiple times a day they are sending her to the office. We are NOT happy about this!!! WE feel that they arent seeking a solution to the problem, just sending her to the office to get her out of the class. She doesnt understand the whole "reason" behing going to the office, so that is not working at all. So far this week, and today is only Wed morning, she has been 3 or 4 times to the office. This is taking precious learning time away for her, plus teaching her that if she doesnt want to do something, lets just yell out in class and I can "go for a walk" and not have to do it.....ERRRR!

Gabby...well lets just leave it at this....educationally....nothing on "her level" is being taught! They say that it is.....but it is not! They say they want to listen....but they dont!

We are at our wits end....we have a lawyer/parent advocate that I will be talking to this morning, so I pray something will come out of that meeting.

Until then....I leave you with this picture.....Giovanna at 2 yrs old....just 2 mths after she come home from Guatemala....just look at that face!

5
nice people had this to say:

I'm so sorry you are having problems with the school system. I remember when she was in the preschool and how sweet she was. I pray you get to the bottom of it. They NEED to be taking care of her, and NOT pushing her to the side!

We had an issue like this with our daughter..Autistic, Non-verbal, CP.She did awesome in two other schools then we moved to a different school district and they totally failed with our daughter as they did was focus on her negative activity which we had never seen before and what they were telling just was NOT our child, sure she has some issues but not to the extreme that they claimed, they finally put her in an all inclusion class behavioral class (let me tell ya, she learned so much more)they didnt even work on her education they worked on her "Negative" behaviors. She basically lost last years schooling. This year we moved to Florida, she has started class and she is doing fantastic with NO behavior issues and is learning so much in just the last 2 weeks. I would insist they focus on ALL her Possitive's and they will see less negative's, Our kids love to do good with high praise and being included...sorry this was so long, however I just had to share our daughter's experience as it turned for the better with the better.

I would go in and spend a day (yes a day) observing her without her knowing you are there. Take notes and record everything she does and what led up to it and how it was handled. I would also call a new IEP and put behavior goals in and also get a behavior modification plan in place. Have it put in writing that she will not be removed from the classroom for any inappropriate behavior but have the consequence given while she is in the classroom, and can still benefit from the teaching. Don't let them tell you they can;t, there are many in class consequences that they can use instead of removing her. I had problems years ago when Jimmy was in first grade. I found out they were removing him from the classroom and having him sit in a small room in the office without the light on and the door cracked open. I was furious and horrified! It broke my heart to get him ready for school and he would tell me he didn't want to go. His teachers were unreasonable and did not want him in the regular classroom. Luckily that was only one tough year before we moved out of state and into the district we are in. I feel for what you are going through, I've been there! Have you talked to Shelley? Just by reading her blog, you can tell she knows her stuff. I'm sure she would be a great resource. I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning her, it's just that I've read her posts about her school issues so far and she sounds like she is handling them very well! I'll be praying for you! Keep us updated!Amy

Oh Rita, I am so sorry to hear all of this. It hurts my heart to hear of how they are treating the girls. I am praying for you and the situation and I am sending your story up my prayer chain. This is unacceptable! As bad as all of this is though, it makes my soul full to know that Gabby and Giovanna have you and William for parents at a time like this. Just imagine what kind of education they would or would not be getting had they not been chosen by God for your family. You are all such blessings for each other. LOVE AND HUGS!

PEOPLE WHO WANT TO FOLLOW OUR JOURNEY

Hits to our Blog

Networked Blogs

Me and My sweetheart!!

About Me

Very busy mom to 6 wonderful kids. WE have bio twins 21 1/2 and 4 adopted angels. Three of which have Down Syndrome, A little something extra special!! Our oldest daughter is currently in Iraq with the Army.